
Glass ^^ "-^f . 






THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. 



BY JAMES GRANT WILSON, D. C. L. 

143'' 



t*'v.ci ny 



•HgWY 



:; THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. 

,' By James Grant Wilson. D. C. L. 

To the residents of the Second City of the World, and of the 
most important and populous State of our Union, the most 
important event in the history of American discovery next to 
that of the Continent itself by '' the World-seeking Genoese," is 
the discovery of New York Bay, and the exploration of the Hud- 
son River. Indeed, apart from this local interest, the account of 
Henry Hudson's voyage in the Half-Moon is so full of romantic 
incident that we never weary of its repetition, but turn to it with 
cever enduring pleasure. Yet historical exactness compels us to 
ask the question : Were the English captain and his Dutch com- 
panions the first of European navigators to look upon the beauti- 
ful prospect of our bay and river, of forest-covered Manhattan, 
and the noble Palisades? All can heartily sympathize with 
Irving's sentiments when, expressing his indignation against those 
writers who sought to deprive Columbus of the glory of his dis- 
covery, he said: *' There is a certain meddlesome spirit which 
in the garb of learned research goes prying about the traces of 
history, casting down its monuments and marring and mutilating 
its fairest trophies."' 

Although there is ample evidence for believing that Henry 
Hudson was preceded in the discovery of the river that bears his 
name, by Giovanni de Verrazano, an Italian, at the time (1524) 
in the service of France, and also a year later, by Esteban Gomez, 
a native of Cadiz, sailing under the flag of Spain, also that Hud- 
son was not entirely ignorant of the existence of the river it is 

.supposed he looked uj)0u as the original explorer, three cen- 
10 



146 [Assembly 

tiiries ago in September, 1909, still we max cling with consider- 
able reason to the impression of our ancestors. And although it 
is even possible that the Northmen and other ancient navigators- 
mav have seen the beautiful bay and river hundreds of years ago^ 
the discovery made by Henry Hudson possesses over the others 
who may have caught a glimpse of their waters, the great advan- 
tage of having been carefully made, and circumstantially reported ; 
also of having never been lost sight of from the date of its occur- 
rence to the present day; of bearing fruit immediately in trading 
voyages begun the very next year ; in temporary settlements upon 
the banks of the magnificent river within five years after it had 
thus become known to the world, and finally, in regular colo- 
nization and permanent occupation by a civilized people through 
a period of almost three centuries. It will therefore never lose 
its historical importance and significance, and hence we shall 
ever be justified in regarding with deepest interest the arrival 
of Hudson and the Half-Moon in (September, 1G09. 

Henry Hudson was born, and baptized, in London, during the 
latter half of the Sixteenth Century. He Avas a citizen of the 
English Metropolis, occupied a house there, and belonged to a 
family that counted among its numbers another Henry Hudson., 
believed to be his grandfather, who was an alderman of London, 
and one of the founders, with Sebastian Cabot, of the Muscovy 
or Russian company, w^hich was intended to promote the discovery 
of a northerly passage to China. From its establishment in 1555 
till 1607, when our explorer first appears upon the scene as a 
Captain in its service, various Hudsons were prominent in the 
counsels of the Muscovy Company, or engaged in its explorations. 
Educated in the Company's service and familiar with its aims, 
Henry Hudson was entirely devoted to the problem of a northerly 



Ko. 74.] • 147 

passage to China, and the varions discoveries that he made wei'e 
the outcome of this original idea. Of his four voyages of which 
anything is known, the first tT\'0 were made for the Miisco\n,^ 
Company, while the fonrth and last was set on foot by Sir Thomas 
Smith. Senior Governor of the Mnscovy Company. The journal 
of Hudson's first recorded voyage contains the earliest known 
incident in the life of the celebrated mariner, and indicates his 
religious feelings, also illustrating the devout spirit of the age. 
Purchas records "Anno 1007, April the nineteenth, at St. Ethe- 
burge in Bishop's Gate Street, did communicate with the rest of 
the parishioners these persons, seamen, purposing to goe to sea 
foure days after for to discover a passage by the Nortli Pole to 
Japan and China.'' Then follow eleven names beginning with 
" Henry Hudson, master,'' and ending with his son, "John Hud- 
son," a boy. The HopeAvell of sixty tons, associated with the gal- 
lant Sir Martin Frobisher's last voyage, twenty-nine years before, 
was now under Hudson's command, and in her he tried the 
eastern coast of Greenland, following the ice barrier around and 
up to about 82° North. Having reached the neighborhood of 
Spitzbergen without finding an entrance, he sought once more 
to penetrate into Davis Strait by the north of Greenland by Lum- 
ley's inlet and the " furious overfall.'' Again frustrated by ice, 
he returned to England, arriving in the Thames the middle of 
September. Hudson attained a higher degree of latitude than 
any previous navigator, he was the first to observe the ameliora- 
tion of the temperature in his northern progress, and to suggest 
the existence of an open polar sea, and by his recommendations, 
laid the foundations of the English whale fisheries in the vicinity 
of Spitzbergen. In this voyage he was influenced by the map 
of Molineux or Wright, issued by Hakluyt in 1000, which Coote 



148 • [Assembly" 

identified with the " New Map," referred to by Shakespeare in 
"Twelfth Night." 

Hudson's second voyage for the Muscovy Company for the 
" finding a passage to the East Indies by the Northeast," began on 
22nd April, 1G08, and he had with him his son John and Robert 
Juet, who accompanied him in his two later voyages and finally 
most basely conspired against him. On June 3rd he reached 
the northern point of Norway and eight days later was in 
latitude 75° 24' N., between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Striv- 
ing in vain to pass to the northeast of the latter, and " wide of 
hope of a northeast passage (except by the Vaygats, for which 
I was not fitted to trie or prove)," he resolved, July 6th, to use 
all means to sail to the northwest, once more hoping to pass what 
Captain Davis named Lumley's inlet and the furious overfall. 
But, having made little headway on Aug. 7th, he returned to 
England, arriving on the 26th. 

The Muscovy Company having temporarily abandoned the 
quest, and turned its attention to the whale fisheries which Hud- 
son had suggested, he was at liberty to accept a commission from 
the Dutch East India Company to command an expedition in 
search of a Northeast passage. Just a.s the explorer had signed 
the contract, 8th January, 1609, at Amsterdam, an invitation 
arrived from France desiring him to undertake a similar voyage 
and ofifering much more liberal terms. An existing copy of Hud- 
son's contract shows that he signed his name Henry Hudson, and 
that in the body of the instrument he was also named Henry (and 
not Hendrick) Hudson; also that an interpreter was required, 
as he did not understand Dutch. It appears from this document 
and abstract of instructions, that the directors agreed to furnish 
a vessel of about sixty tons to " search for a passage to the North, 



No. 74.1 140 

around by the north side of Nova Zembla." If he discovered " the 
passage good and suitable for the Companv to use," the directors 
declared that in addition to his pay, they would reward him in 
their discretion. Hudson received important advice from his 
friends Jodocus Hondius, engraver and map maker, the celebrated 
geographer Rev. Peter Plancius, and from the latter also, trans- 
lations of Barentson's voyage memoranda in 1595, the treatise of 
Ivar Bardson Boty, which had belonged to Barentsou, and also 
the log-books of George Waymouth. He also had with him certain 
letters " which his friend John Smith had sent him from Vir- 
ginia and by which he informed him that there was a sea leading 
into the western ocean, by the north of the English Colony." 

Hudson sailed from Amsterdam on 4, April, 1600, in the Half 
Moon of about eighty tons, manned by a mixed crew of Dutch and 
English sailors. Robert Juet, who had been his mate in the 
previous voyage, now acted as his clerk and fortunately kept the 
invaluable journal of the voyage preserved in the third volume of 
Purchas. The discoverer's own Journal, which DeLaet had 
before him when he wrote the '' Nieuwe Werelt," has disappeared, 
together with such documents as Hudson forwarded to the Dutch 
East India Company. He doubled the Cape of Norway May 5th, 
directing his course along the northern coasts toward Nova 
Zembla. But he there found the sea as full of ice as in the jtre- 
ceding year, so that he abandoned hope of effecting anything. 
This and the cold, to which some of the crew were unaccustomed, 
caused dissensions, upon Avhich Hudson decided to sail for the 
coast of America to the latitude of 40° ( an idea suggested by 
Capt. John ^:?mith's maps and letters), or to direct the search to 
Davis Strait. Abandoning the latter course, he soon after landed 
on the coast of Canada to replace his foremast with a new one cut 



150 [Assembly 

from the virgin forest. From this point the Half-Moon kept on 
along our coast southward until Cape Cod was reached, when 
Hudson stood out to sea not reaching land until arriving in 
Chesapeake Bay. Thence he coasted northward until Wednes- 
day, 2, September, 1609, at five o'clock in the afternoon, they cast 
anchor in a '' great lake of water, as we should judge it to be." 
To the northward were seen high hills " a very good land to fall 
in with, and a pleasant land to see.'' Tbe hills were the Nave- 
sinks, and the lake was the Lower Bay. 

Here the Half-Moon remained for about ten days shifting her 
position and sending out boats to sound tbe broad expanse of 
waters, and dealing distrustfully with the Indians that flocked 
around the ship in their canoes. At length Hudson proceeded 
into the opening between the " small steep hills," described by 
Verrazano, and went on for two leagues, which, if measured 
exactly from the Narrows, would have brought the Half-Moon 
about opposite the Battery; and now begins the familiar and fre- 
quently told story of Hudson's ascent, past the site of Albany, 
and descent of the grand river that immortalizes his name, and 
commemorates his exploit. The Half-Moon passed out of Sandy 
Hook on October -1th, and as Juet concluded his Journal : " We 
continued our course toward England without seeing any land by 
the way, all the rest of the month of October," and on November 
7th arrived at Dartmouth. The authorities no sooner ascertained 
whence the Dutch Ship, with an English captain had come, than 
they detained both. Eventually Hudson was permitted to send 
his Reports to the Directors of the East India Company, and the 
Half-Moon arrived at Amsterdam in July, 1610, but it is uncertain 
if he sailed with her. 

The following year in June, 1611, the explorer closed a life of 
heroic adventure amid the very regions that had tempted him so 



"No. 74.] 151 

often to daring endeavors. The manner of his death was 
barbarous, being set adrift with his son bv his mutinous crew 
amid the ice fields of Hudson's Bay. in an open boat; vet it was 
not perhaps ay inappropriate close to a career such as his, and in 
this respect resembled that of the Dutch Arctic explorer Barent- 
son, whose exploits doubtless contributed to arouse Hudson's 
ambition. 

In the words of Bancroft: ''What became of Hudson? Did 
lie die miserably of starvation? Did he reach land to perish from 
the fury of tlie natives? Was he crushed bet^^een ribs of ice? 
The returning ship encountered storms, by which, it is probable, 
Hudson was overwhelmed. Alone, of the great mariners of that 
day, he lies buried in America; the gloomy waste of waters which 
bears his name, is his tomb and his monument." 

Jiiet-s Journal of Hndson's Voyage. 

As before stated the journal of Hudson's voyage was kept by 
his secretary, Robert Juet of Limehouse. Following is the por- 
tion TV'hich covers the period beginning just before his entry into 
New York Harbor and ending with his departure therefrom for 
Europe : 

The fii^st of ^^eptemher (1609), faire weather, the wind variable 
l>etweene east and south; we steered away north northwest. At 
noone we found our height to bee 39 degrees, 3 minutes. Wee had 
soundings thirtie, twentie-seven, twentie-foure, and twentie-two 
fathomes, as wee went to the northward. At sixe of the clocke 
wee had one and twentie fathomes. And all the third watch, till 
twelve of tlie clocke at mid-night, we 'had soundings one and 
twentie, two and twentie, eighteene, t\\'0 and twentie, one and 
twentie, eighteene, and two and twentie fathoms, and went sixe 
leagues neere hand north northwest. 



152 [Assembly 

The second, in the morning, close weather, the winde at the' 
south in the morning; from t^'elve untill two of the clocke we 
steered north north-west, and had sounding one and trventie 
fathoms ; and in running one glasse we had but sixteene fathoms^ 
then seventeene, and so shoalder and shoalder untill it came to 
twelve fathoms. We saw a great fire, but could not see the land ;. 
then we came to ten fathoms, whereupon we brought our tackes 
aboord, and stood to the eastward east southeast, foure glasses. 
Then the sunne arose, and wee steered away north againe, and 
saw the land from the west by north to the north-west by north,, 
all like broken islands,* and our soundings were eleven and ten 
fathoms. Then wee looft in for the shoare, and faire by the shoare 
we had seven fathoms. The course along the land we found to be 
northeast by north. From the land which we had first sight of, 
untill we came to a great lake of water, as wee could judge it 
to bee, being drowned laud, which made it to rise like islands,, 
which was in length ten leagues. The mouth of that land hath', 
man}' shoalds, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of 
the mouth of it. And from that lake or bay the land lyeth north 
by east, and wee had a great streame out of the bay; and from 
thence our sounding was ten fathoms two leagues from the land. 
At five of the clocke we anchored, being little winde, and rode in 
eight fathoms water; the night was faire. This night I found 
the land to hall the compasse S degrees. Far to the northward oflT 
us we saw high hills. For the day before we found not above 
2 degrees of variation. This is a very good land to fall with, and 
a pleasant land to see. , 

The third, the morning mystie, untill ten of the clocke; then it 
cleered, and the wind came to the south south-east, so wee- 

* Sandy Hook. 



No. 74.] 153 

weighed and stood to the northward. The land* is very pleasant 
and high, and bold to fall withall. At three of the clock in the 
after-noone, wee came to three great rivers. So we stood along 
to the northermost, thinking to have gone into it, but we fonnd 
it to have a very shoald barre before it, for we had but ten foot 
water. Then Ave cast about to the southward, and found two 
fathoms, three fathoms, and three and a quarter, till we came la 
the souther side of them ; then we had five and sixe fathoms, and 
anchored. ►So wee sent in our boate to sound, and they found 
no lesse water then foure, five, sixe, and seven fathoms, and 
returned in an houre, and a halfe. So wee weighed and went in,, 
and rode in five fathoms, oze ground, and saw many salmons, and 
mullets, and raves, very great. The height is 40 degrees, 30' 
minutes. 

The fourth, in the morning, as soone as the day was light, wee 
saw that it was good riding farther up. So we sent our boate to 
sound, and found that it was a very good harbour, and foure and 
five fathomes, two cables length from the shoare. Then we 
weighed and went in with our ship. Then our boate went on laud 
with our net to fish, and caught ten great mullets, of a foote and 
a halfe long a peece, and a ray as great as foure men could hall 
into the ship. So wee trimmed our boate and rode still all day. 
At night the wind blew hard at the north-west, and our anchor 
came home, and wee drove on shoare, but tooke no hurt, thanked 
bee God, for the ground is soft sand and oze. This day the people 
of the country came aboord of us, seeming very glad of our com- 
ming, and brought greene tobacco, and gave us of it for knives and 
beads. They goe in deere skins loose, well dressed. They have 
yellow copper. They desire cloathes, and are very civill. They 

* Staten Island. 



154 [Assembly 

have great store of maize, or Indian wheate, whereof they make 
good bread. The countrev is full of great and tall oake. 

The fifth, in the morning, as soone as the day was light, the 
wind ceased and the flood came. So we heaved off onr ship againe 
into five fathoms water, and sent onr boate to sound the bay, and 
we found that there was three fathoms hard by the souther 
shoare. Our men went on land there, and saw great store of men, 
women, and children, who gave them tabacco at their coming on 
land. So they went up into the woods, and saw great store of very 
goodly oakes and some currants. For one of them came aboord 
and brought some dryed, and gave me some, which were sweet 
and good. This day many of the people came aboord, some in 
mantles of feathers, and some in skinnes of divers sorts of good 
furres. Some women also came to us with hempe. They had red 
copper tobacco pipes, and other things ef copper they did weare 
about their neckes. At night they went on land againe, so wee 
rode very quiet, but durst no trust them. 

The sixth, in the morning, was faire weather, and our master 
sent John Colman, with foure other men in our boate, over to 
the north-side to sound the other river, being foure leagues from 
ns. They found by the way shoald water, two fathoms; but at 
the north of the river eighteen and twentie fathoms, and very good 
riding for ships ; and a narrow river to the westward betweene two 
ilands. The lands, they told us, were as pleasant with grasse and 
flowers and goodly trees as ever they had seene, and very sweet 
smells came from them. So they went in two leagues and saw an 
open sea, and returned; and as they came backe, they were set 
upon by two canoes, the one having twelve, the other fourteene 
men. The night came on, and it began to rayne, so that their 
match went out. and thev had one man slaine in the fight, which 



:N.i. 74.] 155 

was an Englishman, named John Colman, with an arrow shot 
into his throat, and two more hurt. It grew so darke that thej 
could not find the ship that night, but labored to and fro on 
their oares. They had so great a streame, that their grapnell 
would not hold them. 

The seventh^ was faire, and by ten of the clocke they returned 
aboord the ship, and brought our dead man with them, whom we 
carried on land and buryed. and named the point after his 
name, Colmans Point. Then we hoysted in our boate. and raised 
lier side with waste boords for defense of our men. So we rode 
still all night, having good regard to our watch. 

The eight, was very faire weather, wee rode still very quietly. 
The people came aboord us. and brought tabacco and Indian wheat 
to exchange for knives and beades, and offered us no violence. So 
we fitting up our boate did marke them, to see if they would make 
any shew of the death of our man ; which they did not. 

The ninth, faire weather. In the morning, two great canoes 
came aboord full of men ; the one with their bowes and arrowes, 
and the other in shew of buying of knives to betray us ; but we 
perceived their intent. Wee tooke two of them to have kept 
them, and put red coates on them, and would not suffer the other 
to come neere us. So they went on land, and two other came 
aboord in a canoe; we tooke the one and let the other goe; but 
hee which wee had takcTi, got up and leapt over-boord. Then we 
weighed and went oft' into the channell of the river, and anchored 
there all night. 

The tenth, faire weather, we rode still till twelve of the clocke. 
Then we weighed and went over, and found it shoald all the mid- 
dle of the river, for wee could find but two fathoms and a halfe 
iind three fathomes for the space of a league ; then wee came to 



156 [Assembly 

three fathomes and foiire fathomes, and so to seven fathomes^ 
and anchored, and rode all night in soft ozie ground. The bank 
is sand. 

The eleventh was faire and very hot weather. At one of the 
clocke in the after-noone wee weighed and went into the river, 
the wind at south-west, little winde. Our soundings were seven,, 
sixe, five, sixe, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, thirteene, and four- 
teeue fathomes. Then it shoalded againe, and came to five fath- 
omes. Then wee anchored, and saw that it was a very good 
harbour for all windes, and rode all night. The people of the 
country came aboord of us, making shew of love, and gave us 
tabacco and Indian wheat, and departed for that niglit; but we 
durst not trust them. 

The twelfth, very faire and hot. In the after-noone, at two of 
the clocke, wee weighed, the winde being variable betweene the 
north and uorth-Avest. So we turned into the river two leagues 
and anchored.* This morning, at our first rode in the river,, 
there came eight and tAventie canoes full of men, women and 
children to betray us; but we saw their intent, and suffered none 
of them to come aboord of us. At twelve of the clocke they de- 
parted. They brought with them oysters and beanes, whereof wee 
bought some. They have great tabacco pipes of yellow copper, 
and pots of earth to dresse their meate in. It floweth southeast 
by south within. 

The thirteenth, faire weather, the wind northerly. At seven of 
the clocke in the morning, as the floud came wee weighed, and 
turned foure miles into the river. The tide being done wee 
anchored. Then there came foure canoes aboord; but wee suffered 
none of them to come into our shi]>. They brought great store 

* About opposite the Battery. 



:N'o. 74.] 157 

of very good oysters aboord, which we bought for trifles. In the 
night I set the variation of the compasse, and found it to be 
13 degrees. In the after-noone we weighed, and turned in with the 
floud, two leagues and a halfe further, and anchored all night; 
and had five fathoms soft ozie ground ; and had an high point of 
laud, which shewed out to us, bearing north by east five leagues 
off us. 

The fourteenth, in the morning, being very faire weather, the 
wind south-east, we sayled up the river twelve leagues, and had 
five fathoms, and five fathoms and a quarter lesse; and came 
to a streight betweene two points,* and had eight, nine, and ten 
fathoms ; and it trended north-east by north, one league ; and wee 
had twelve, thirteene, and fourteene fathomes. The river is a 
mile broad ; there is very high land on both sides. Then we went 
up north-west, a league and a halfe deepe water. Then north- 
east by north, five miles; then north-west by north, two leagues 
and anchored. The land grew very high and mountainous. The 
river is full of fish. 

The fifteenth, in. the mornnig, was misty, untill the sunne arose; 
then it cleered. So wee weighed with the wind at south, and ran 
up into the river twentie leagues, passing by high mountaines. 
Wee had a very good depth, as sixe, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, 
and thirteene fathomes, and great store of salmons in the river. 
This morning our two savages got out of a port and swam away. 
After wee were under sayle, they called to us in scorne. At 
night we came to other mountaines, which lie from the rivers side. 
There wee found very loving ])eople. and very old men : Where 
wee were well used. Our boat went to fish, and caught great 
«tore of verv good fish. 



* Between Stony and Veri)lanck points, according to Moulton's computation (History of 
Iifew York). 



158 [Assembly 

The sixteenth, faire and very hot weather, lu the morning our 
boat went againe to fishing, but conld catch but few, by reason 
their canoes had beene there all night. This morning the people 
came aboord. and brought ns eares of Indian corne, and pom- 
pions, and tabacco ; which wee bought for trifles. We rode still 
all day, and filled fresh water; at night wee weighed and went 
t^'o leagues higher, and had shoald water so wee anchored till day. 

The seventeenth, faire sun-shining weather, and very hot. In 
the morning, as soone as the sun was up, we set sayle, and ran up 
sixe leagues higher, and found shoalds in the middle of the chan- 
nell. and small ilands, but seven fathoms water on both sides. 
Toward night, we borrowed so neere the shore, that we grounded ; 
so we layed' out our small anchor, and heaved off againe. Then 
we borrowed on the banke in the channell, and came aground 
againe; while the floud ran we heaved off againe, and anchored all 
night.* 

The eighteenth, in the morning, was faire weather, and we rode 
still. In the after-noone our masters mate went on land with an 
old savage, a governor of the countrey ; who carried him to his 
house, and made him good cheere. 

TJie nineteenth, was faire and hot weather; at the floud, being 
neere eleven of the clocke, wee weighed, and ran higher up two 
leagues above the shoalds, and had no lesse water than five 
fafhoms; wee anchored, and rode in eight fathomes. The people 
of the countrie came flocking aboord, and brought us grapes and 
pompions, Avhich wee bought for trifles. And many brought us 
bevers skinnes and otters skinnes, which we bought for beades, 
knives, and hatchets. So we rode there all night.f 

* Probably a few miles below the spot where Albany now stands. 
tEither where Albany now stands, or its immediate neighborhood. 



No. 74.] 159 

The tH-entietJi, in the morning, was faire weather. Our masters 
mate with foure men more went up with our boat to sound the 
river, and found two leagues above us but two fathomes water, 
and the channell very narrow ; and above that place, seven or 
eight fathomes. Toward night they returned; and we rode still 
all night. ' 

The one and tiventiefh was faire weather, and the wind all 
southerly; we determined yet once more to go farther up into 
the river, to trie what depth and breadth it did beare; but much 
people resorted aboord, so wee went not this day. Our carpenter 
went on land, and made a fore-yard. And our master and his 
mate determined to trie some of the chief e men of the countrey, 
whether they had any treacherie in them. So they tooke them 
downe into the cabbin and gave them so much wine and aqua vitae, 
that-they Avere all merrie : and one of them had hi« Avife with them, 
which sate so modestly, as any of our countrey women would doe 
in -a strange place. In the ende one of them was drunke, which 
ha<l beene aboord of our ship all the time that we had beene there: 
and that was strange to them ; for they could not tell how to take 
it. The canoes and folke went all on shoare ; but some of them 
came againe, and brought stropes of beades; some had sixe, 
seven, eight, nine, ten; and gave him. So he slept all night 
quietly. 

The two and twentieth was faire weather; in the morning our 
masters mate and foure more of the companie went up with our 
boat to sound the river higher up. The people of the countrey 
came not aboord till noone; but when they came, and saw the 
savages well, they were glad. So at three of the clocke in the 
after-noone they came aboord, and brought tabacco, and more 
beades, and gave them to our master, and made an oration, and 
shewed him all the countrey round about. Then they sent one of 



160 [Assembly 

their companie on land, who presently returned, and brought a 
great platter full of venison dressed by themselves; and they 
caused him to eate with them ; then they made him reverence and 
departed, all save the old man that lay aboord. This night, at ten 
of the clocke, our boat returned in a showre of raine from sound- 
ing of the river; and found it to bee at an end for shipping to goe 
in. For they had beene up eight or nine leagues, and found but 
seven foot water, and uneonstant soundings. 

The three and ticentiefh, faire weather. At twelve of the clocke 
wee weighed, and went downe two leagues to a shoald that had 
two channels, one on the one side, and another on the other, and 
had little wind, whereby the tyde layed us upon it. So there 
wee sate on ground the space of an houre till the floud came. Then 
wee had a little gale of wind at the west. So wee got our ship 
into deepe water, and rode all night very well. 

The foiire and tiuentieth was faire weather: the winde at the 
north-west, wee weighed, and went downe the river, seven or 
eight leagues; and at halfe ebb wee came on ground on a banke of 
oze in the middle of the river, and sate there till the floud. Then 
wee went on land, and gathered good store of chest-nuts. At ten 
of the clocke we came off into deepe water, and anchored. 

The fire and twenlieth was faire weather, and the wind at south 
a stiflfe gale; we rode still, and went on land to walke on the 
west side of the river, and found good ground for corne and other 
garden herbs, with great store of goodly oakes, and walnut-trees, 
and chest-nut trees, ewe trees, and trees of sweet wood in great 
abundance, and great store of slate for houses, and other good 
stones. 

The si.rc and fircnticfJt was faire weathei". and the wind at south 
a stitfe gale; wee rode still. In the moining our carpenter went on 



Ko. 74.] lUl 

land, with our masters mate and foure more of our companie, to 
cut wood. This morning, two canoes came up the river from the 
place where we first found loving people, and in one of them was 
the old man that had lyen aboord of us at the other place. He 
brought another old man witli him, which brought more stropes of 
.beades and gave them to our master, and shewed him all the 
countrey there about as though it were at his command. So he 
made the two old men dine with him, and the old mans wife: for 
they brought two old women, and two young maidens of the age 
of sixteene or seventeene yeares with them, who behaved them- 
selves very modestly. Our master gave one of the old men a 
knife, and they gave him and us tabacco. And at one of the 
clocke they departed downe the river, making signes that wee 
should come downe to them ; for wee were within two leagues of 
the place where they dwelt. 

The seven and twentieth, in the morning, was faire weather, 
but much wind at the north ; we weighed and set our fore top- 
sayle, and our ship would not flat, but ran on the ozie banke at 
half ebbe. We layed out anchor to heave her oft', but could not. 
■So wee sate from halfe ebbe to halfe floud; then Avee set our fore- 
sayle and mayne top-sail, and got downe ' ixe leagues. The old 
man came aboord, and would have had * ,i anchor, and goe on land 
to eate with him : but the wind being faire, we would not yeeld to 
his request; so hee left us, being very sorrowfull for our departure. 
At five of the clocke in the after-noone, the wind came to the south 
south-west. So wee made a boord or two, and anchored in four- 
teene fathomes water. Then our boat went on shoare to fish right 
against the sliip. Our masters mate and boatswaiue, and three 
more of the companie, went on land to fish, but could not finde a 

.good place. They took foure or five and twentie mullets, breames 
11 



I«j2 [Assembly 

bases, and barbils; and returned in an houre. We rode still all 
night. 

The eight and ticentieth, being faire weather, as soone as the day 
was light, wee weighed at halfe ebbe, and turned downe two 
leagues belowe water; for the streame doth runne the last quarter 
ebbe : then we anchored till high water. At three of the elocke 
in the after-noone, we weighed, and turned downe three leagues, 
untill it was darke: then wee anchored. 

The nine and tiventieth was drie close weather; the wind at 
south, and south and by west; we weighed early in the morn- 
ing and turned downe three leagues by a lowe water, and anchored 
at the lower end of the long reach; for it is sixe leagues long. 
Then there came certaine Indians in a canoe to us, but would not 
come aboord. After dinner there came the canoe with other 
men, whereoff three came aboord us. They brought Indian wheat,, 
which we bought for trifles. At three of the elocke in the after- 
noone wee weighed, as soone as the ebbe came, and turned downe 
to the edge of the mountaines, or the northermost of the moun- 
taines, and anchored: because the high land hath many points, 
and a narrow channel 1, and hath manie eddie winds. So we 
rode quietly all night in seven fathoms water. 

The thirtieth was faiie weather, and the Avind at south-east a 
stiffe gale betweene the mountaynes. We rode still the afternoone. 
The ])eoi»le of the countrey came aboord us and brought some 
small skinues with tlieni, Avhich we bought for knives and trifles. 
This is a very pleasant place to build a towne on. The road is 
very neere, and very good for all windes. save an east north-east 
winde. The mountaynes look as if some metall or minerall were 
in them. For the trees that grow on them were all blasted, and 
some of them barren, with few or no trees on them. The people- 



No. 74.] 103 

brought a stone abooid like to an emery, (a stone used by glas- 
iers to cut glasse), it would cnt iron or Steele: yet being bruised 
small, and water put to it, it made a color like blacke lead glister- 
ing: it is also good for painters colours. At three of the clocke. 
they departed, and we rode still all night. 

The first of October, faire weather, the wind variable betweene 
the west and the north. In the morning we weighed at seven of 
the clocke with the ebbe, and got down beloAv the mountaynes, 
which was seven leagues. Then it fell calnie and the floud was 
come, and wee anchored at twelve of the clocke. The people of 
the mountaynes came aboord us, wondering at our ship and 
weapons. We bought some small skinnes of them for trifles. 
This after-noone, one canoe kept hanging under our sterne with 
one man in it, which we could not keepe from thence, who got 
up by our rudder to the cabin window, and stole out my pillow, 
and two shirts, and two bandeleeres. " Our masters mate shot at 
him. and strooke him on the brest. and killed him. Whereupon 
all the rest fled away, some in their canoes, and so leapt out of 
them into the water. We manned our boat, and got our things 
againe. Then one of them that swamme got hold of our boat, 
thinking to^verthrow it. But our cooke tooke a sword, and cut off 
one of his hands, and he was drowned. By this time the ebbe was 
come, and we weighed and got downe two leagues ; by that time 
it was darke. So we anchored in foure fathomes water, and rode 
well. 

The second, faire weather. At break of day wee Aveighed, the 
winde being at north-west, and got downe seven leagues ; then the 
floud was come strong, so wee anchored. Then came one of the 
savages that swamme away from us at our going up the river 
with many other, thinking to betray us, but wee perceived their 



164 [Assembly 

intent, and suffered none of them to enter our ship. Whereupon 
two canoes full of men, with their bowes and arrowes shot at us 
after our sterne : In recompence whereof we discharged sixe 
muskets, and killed two or three of them. Then above 
an hundred of them came to a point of land to shoot 
at us. There I shot a falcon at them and killed two of 
them; whereupon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they manned 
oft' another canoe with nine or ten men, which came to meet us. 
So I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it through, and killed one of 
them. Then our men with their muskets killed three or foure more 
of them.* So they went their way ;' within a wile after we got 
downe two leagues beyond that place, and anchored in a bay, cleere 
from all danger of them on the other side of the river, where we 
saw a very good piece of ground : and hard by it there was a cliffe, 
that looked of the colour of a white greene,t as though it were 
either copper or silver myne and I thiuke it to be one of 
them, by the trees that grow upon it. For they be all burned 
and the other' places are greene as grasse; it is on that side of the 
river that is called Manna-hatta.| There we saw no people to 
trouble us: and rode quietly all night; but had much wind and 
raine. 

The third, was very stormie; the wind at east north-east. In 
the morning, in a gust of wind and raine, oui' anchor came home, 
and we drove on ground, but it was ozie. Then as we were about 
to have out an anchor, the wind came to the north north-west, 
and drove us off againe. Then we shot an anchor, and let it fall 
in foure fathomes water, and weighed the other. Wee had much 
wind and raine, with thicke weather ; so we roade still all night. 

* This scene is believed to have taken place from the mouth of Spuyten Duyvil Creek to 
Fort Washington Point. ,^ , , , , , , . , . , . 

t The cliff was probably Castle Point, Hoboken, and the bay was the indention north of 
the point. . • e ij f 

t Juet's location of Maniia-hata on the .Jersey side opens up an interesting held for specu- 
lation. It suggest.'^ that either he made a mistake in applying the name, or that his Dutch 
successors did, for the latter applied it to New York Island. 



No. 74.] 165 

The fourth, was faiie weather, aud the wind at north north- 
west; wee weighed and' came out of the river, into which wee had 
ruBne so farre. AYitliin a while after, wee came out also of the 
gi'eat mouth of the great river, that runneth up to the north-west, 
borrowing upon the norther side of the same, thinking to have 
deepe water : for we had sounded a great way with our boat at 
our first going in. and found seven, six, and five fathomes. So we 
came out that way, but we were deceived, for we had but eight foot 
and an halfe water: and so three, five, three, and two fathomes 
and an halfe. And then three, foure. five, sixe, seven, eight, nine 
and ten fathomes. And by twelve of the clocke we were cleere 
of all the inlet. Then we took in our boat, and set our mayne-sayle 
and sprit-sayle, and our top-sayles, and steered away east south- 
east, and south-east by east off into the mayne sea ; and the land 
on the souther side of the bay or inlet did beare at noone west 
and by south foure leagues from us. 

The fifth was faire weather, and the wind variable betweene 
the north and the east. Wee held on our course south-east by 
easti At noone I observed and found our height to bee 39 degrees, 
30 minutes. Our comriasse varied sixe degrees to the west. 

We continued our course toward England, without seeing any 
land by the wa^-, all the rest of this moneth of October, and on 
the seventh day of November, stilo novo, being Saturday, by the 
grace of Ood we safely arrived in the range of Dartmouth, in 
Devonshire, in the yeere 1(501). 

Henry llttdson's Contract. 
The contract between Henry Hudison and the Dutch East India 
Company, under which the famous navigator made his voyage of 
1009, is an interesting document in more respects than one, 



106 [Assembly 

and tlie American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society has 
been at some pains to present an authentic copy of it. 

The whereabouts of the original document, if still in existence, 
is not knoAvn. According to the authorities of the Royal Archives 
at The Hague, it was lost more than a hundred years ago. But 
fortunately, while it was available, it was copied by Mr. Peter 
Van Dam, Advocate of the Dutch East India Company froui 
1652 to 1706, and appended to his manuscript history of the 
Company which is in the Royal Archives. This history, which 
was written between 1693 and 1701, has never been printed, 
and his copy of the Hudson contract has never been reproduced 
in fac simile before, we believe. We also give a rendering of the 
documeut in types, as nearly as the Dutch script can be ^o repre- 
sented, parallel with a translation. 

A few words of explanation may give a clearer understanding 
of some of the expressions used in the document : 

'• The Chamber of Amisterdam " refers to one of the six branches 
into which the Dutch East India Company was divided. These 
six branches were located in different parts of the country, each 
of them managed by its own board of directors. They were called 
the Chambers of Amsterdam, Zeeland, Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn 
and Enkhuizen. From these chambers was chosen a general 
Council of Seventeen. Although Hudson's contract was with the 
Amsterdam Chamber only, it is to be presumed that it was rati- 
fied by the general council. 

'* The ten ^ears account " refers to a provision of the charter 
of the East India Company which i-equired it to keep an account 
of each decade's operations. At the end of each ten years, any 
stockholder could witlidraw his capital if he chose to do so. 

The manuscript says '• omtrent dertigh lasten," about thirty 
lasts. The company, however, placed at Hudson's service its 



No. 74.] 1G7 

" little ship or yacht " the *' Halve Maeu," or Half Moon, which 
its records show had a capacity of 40 lasts, or 80 tons. No model 
of this vessel exists, either in The Hague or Amsterdam, and the 
Director of the Royal Museum at Amsterdam says he does not 
know where one can be found. The oldest ship model actually 
preserved in tlie Royal Museum dates from 1647. A diligent 
search in the Holland art galleries has also failed thus far to 
reveal an authentic contemporary painting of this historic vessel. 
"We can form a reasonably accurate idea of the appearance of the 
Half Moon, however, from the references to its rigging in Juet's 
Journal and Van Meteren's *' Historie der Nederlanden," aud from 
knowledge of the Dutch type of that period. It was a short 
thick-set vessel, about one-third as wide as it was long, with a 
high stern cabin, and moderately high forward works. It had 
a bowsprit, a foremast with a foretopmast, a mainmast with a 
maintopmast, and in the stern a mizzenmast. As to its sails — 
any picture representing the ship with a triangular jib or stay-sail 
in an anachronism. The jib had not yet been invented. In its 
place, the Half Moon had a " spritsail," a form of sail now 
obsolete. It was a square sail hanging from a yard slung across 
the bowsprit, its lower corners confined by ropes running back 
TO the hull. Its foresail (alluded to by Hudson as the " fc^i-e- 
course,") foretopsail, mainsail (maincourse) and maintopsail, 
were also square sails, hanging from their respective yards, with- 
out looms, their lower corners being confined by roi>es. The 
nii/Lenmast was rigged with a latteen sail which Hudson called 
his " missen-course." A latteen sail is a triangular sail hung 
from a yard which slants across the mast at an angle of about 
45 degrees. The ship also had an equipment of " bo^nnets," which 
"wei-e supplementary sails designed to be laced to the principal 



168 [Assembly 

sails in order to enlarge their area. The Hon. Henry C. Murphy., 
formerly United States Minister to the Netherlands, apparently 
labored under some misapprehension when, in his valuable bro- 
chure entitled " Henry Hudson in Holland,-' (printed in 1859), he 
said that " the masts were rigged with gaffs half way down like 
a sloop." A careful study of contemporary prints and maps indi- 
cates that fore-and-aft sails with gaffs had not then been devised, 
although they liegin to appear in il lustrations of the latter half 
of the century.* 

*• Longitudine " in the I>utch text we have rendered " longi 
tude " in the English text; but '' folloAV the longitude" in this 
case does not mean " follow the meridian." The word " longi- 
tude," which signifies literally " length,'' came into uise among 
early geographers to express distance east and west, because 
ihej believed the earth was longest in that direction. For in- 
stance, Marco Polo speaks of being '^ the first traveller to trace 
a route across the whole longitude of Asia." In the present case^ 
the expression " follow the longitude " obviously means to continue 
along the lengthwise direction (or eastward) from Nova Zembla. 

It is interesting to note th'at in this document, written by 
Dutch lawyers, in the Dutch language, in the Dutch citv' of 
Amsterdam, Henry Hudson's name appears twice, and that in 
both the body of the instrument and the signature the Christian 
name is written " Henry," not " Hendrik." As before stated, the 
document here reproduced in facsimile is a copy of the original,^ 

* There is a model of Hudson's ship, the Half Moon, in the United States National Museuim 
at Washington, but "there is little probability t)iat it closely approximntes the ship it is intended 
to represent," says Mr. Richard Rathbun, Assistant Secretary in charge of the Museum. "It 
represents a shi|) of the seventeenth century, carrj-inn three square sails on the foremast and 
one on the bowsprit, aHcl a latteen sail on the mainmast. It has only two masts. The ends 
of the ves.sel are substantially alike; they are excessively full — almost square; the bottom 
is nearly flat and extends the entire length, there lieing no nm and practically no upward 
slope to the bow. There is a deep waist on the main deck, a toijgallant forecastle; a high 
quarter deck; the quarter deck V)ulwark extends abaft the deck, forming a sort of pink, through, 
which the rudder head passes. The bowsprit is formed of two pieces of timber joined at their 
outer ends and separates! where they meet the stern, thus acting as a vertical support to eacb 
other." 



( 



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HENRY HUDSON'S CONTRACT WITH THR DUTCH EAST INDIA 

COMPAN\' IN i6oy. 
Facsimile of copy of original iiT^trument in Peter Van Dam's manuscript 

History of the East India Company in the Royal Archives of Holland. 
See Appendix B. 






Ury </(!'> i >'CtO-K /'"■• » /•/<< r/<V ;>> iK- <;>*>< , i' i<0y^tir< 

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< L ( ><■ # ( ^ * ) ■( K a f < ' < ♦ (. / *3r-f <•< 'X ' ' / ' ' ^ > '^ 



No. 74.] 



169 



and the English *' y '' in Hudson's signatnrie is represented by 
its Dutch equivalent " ij/' as in the word " lanuarij " for 
" January."' 

In the translation we have followed the common practice of 
representing the Dutch "1"' by "J," as in " Jodocus/' etc. 

The assistance of " Jodocus Hondius as interpreter " is further 
proof of how good an Englishman and how poor a Dutchman 
Hudson was, and emphasizes the propriety of Governor Higgins' 
official decision in lOOO. apropos of the Hudson Tercentenary^ 
that Hudson should be called " Henry." 

Dirck van Os and Johan Poppe, the other two signers of the 
contract, were directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the East 
India Company. 

It is perhaps needless to add that the spelling in the old Dutch 
text differs in many respects from modern Dutch spelling. 



Contract met Henri j Hudson. 

Op heden Den 8 lanuarij int' 
laar onses Heereu Een Duij- 
sent Ses Hondert en negen Sijn 
met malkanderen geaccordeert 
en overkomen De Itewintheb- 
beren vande Oost-Indische 
Compe : vande Camer van Am- 
sterdam vande tienjarige 
Reeck^: ter eenre, En ^Ir Hen- 
rij Hudson, Engelsman, geas- 
sisteert met lodocus Hondius 
ter andere sijde, In maniere 
navolgende. Te weten : Dat de 
voor^z. : Bewinthebberen metten 
eersten sullen equipperen een 
scheepken of laght. van omtrent 
dertigh lasten waar mede de 
voorn: Hudson omtrent den 



Contract iciiJi Henry Hudson. 

On this day, the Sth of Jan- 
uary, in the year of our Lord, 
one thousand six hundred and 
nine, the Directors of the ten- 
years' account of the Chamber 
of Amsterdam of the East India 
Company on the one part, and 
Mv. Henry Hudson, English- 
man, assisted by -Jodocus Hon- 
dius, on the other part, have 
agreed and covenanted with 
each other in the manner fol- 
lowing, to wit: That the afore- 
said directors at the first oppor- 
tunity shall equip a small shij)= 
or yacht of about thirty lasts,, 
well-provided with men. provi- 
sions and other daily necessa- 



170 



[Assembly 



eersten van April, van volck, 
vivreis, en andere nootlijckliedeu 
wel voorsien isal seijlen oni pais- 
sagie te soeeken door t' noordeu, 
benoorden Nova. Sembla om, en 
S'oo lange de Longitndine vervol- 
gen, dat hij sal konnen seijlen 
Zuijdwaart tot op de hooglite 
van Sestigh graden, en soo veel 
kennisse van Landen sien te 
bekomen als souder merckelijck 
tijt verlies sal konnen geschie- 
den en ist' doenlijck stracks 
weder om keeren^ oni aan de 
Bewinthebberen te doen ge- 
trouwelijek rapport en relaes 
van sijn reijse, en Overgeveu 
sijn lournalen, Coursen, kaer- 
ten, en alles wat hem op de 
reijse wedervaeren is, sonder 
iets aghter te Iiouden, op wel eke 
aanstaende reijse de Bewintheb- 
beren aan den voorsz : Hudson 
sullen betalen soo tot sijn uijt- 
riis tinge op de voorsz: reijse. 
als tot onderhout van sijn vrouw 
en kinderen, de somme van 
Aght Ilondert Gulden, en jnge- 
valle (daar Godt voor sij) hij 
in een jaar niet wederomme hier 
te lande, of hier omtrent en 
quame te arriveren, sullen de 
Bewinthebberen nogh aan sijn 
Huijsvrouwe betalen twee Hon- 
dert g^ : Courant, en als dan 
aan hem eri sijne erv'en niet 
vorder gehouden sijn, Ten waere 
hij daer na nogh nioghte komen 
te arriveren^ ofte dat hij biu- 



ries, wherewith the aforenamed 
Hudson shall sail about the 
first of Ajtril to seek a north- 
erly passage around the north 
side of Nova Zembla, and so 
long follow the longitude [or, 
that direction] that he shall Ije 
able to sail southward to the 
latitude of sixty degrees, and 
try to become as well ac- 
quainted with the lands [seen] 
as shall be possible witJiout con- 
siderable loss of time; and, be it 
feasible, immediately to return 
in order to give to the Direc- 
tors a faithful report and rela- 
tion of his voyage, and hand 
over his journals, courses', 
charts, and [account of] every- 
thing that has befallen him on 
the voyage, without holding 
anything back. For which in- 
tended voyage the Directors 
shall i)ay to the afore- 
said Hudson, as well to- 
ward his outfit for the 
aforesaid voyage as to the 
support of his wife and 
children, the sum of 800 guild- 
ers. And in case (which God 
forbid) he should not return to 
this country here or hereabouts 
within a year, the Directors 
shall pay besides to his wife 200 
guilders current money, and 
thereupon shall not be bounden 
further to him and his heirs; 
unlesvS thereafter he should 
still arrive, or that he 



No. 74.] 



171 



nens' jaars gekomen waar, ende 
de passagie goet ende bequaern 
datse Compe : wederomme soude 
gebruijcken, gevonden liadde, 
In welcken gevalle de Bewint- 
liebberen aan den voorn : 
Hudson voor siijne peineiilen, 
nioeijten, en konste sullen re- 
compenseren tot liaere diseretie, 
waer mede d^in voorn : Hudson 
te \Teden is, Ende jngevalle de 
Bewintbebberen goetvonden als- 
dan deselve reijse te vervolgen 
en continueren, is met den 
voorn : Hudson geaccordeert en 
verdragen dait bij bier te Lande 
sijn woomstee met vrouw en 
kinderen sal nemen, en bem van 
niemant anders a Is vande 
Comp^: laten gebruijcken, en 
dat tot redelijckbeijt en discre- 
tie vande Bewintbebberen die 
bem oock van den selven vor- 
dereu dienst alsdan in alle 
billijekbeijt en redelijckbeijt 
beloven te vergenoegen en Con- 
tenteren. Alles sonder argb of 
list. In kennisse der waerbeijt 
«ijn bier van gemaeckt twee 
Contracten van eenen teneur. 
en bij beijde partijen onder- 
teijckent, als mede bij lodocus 
Hondius, als tolck en getuijge. 
Datum als boven, was geteeck- 
€iit, Dirck van Os, I : Poppe, 
Henrij Hudson, lager stont, Bij 
mij lodocus Hondius als 
getuijge. 



were come witbin tbe year 
and bad found tbe pas- 
sage good and convenient 
for tbe Oompany to use again; 
in wbicb case, tbe Directors 
sball recompense tbe afore- 
named Hudson for his perils, 
labors and science in their dis- 
cretion; wherewith the afore- 
named Hudson is content. 
And in case the Directors there- 
upon deem it good to repeat 
and continue the same voyage, 
it is covenanted and agreed 
with the aforenamed Hudson 
that he shall take up his 
residence here in this coun- 
try with his wife and chil- 
dren, and accept employment 
with no one other than 
the Company, and that in 
the judgment and discretion 
of the Directors, who also 
promise in such case to 
satisfy and content him in all 
equity and fairness for the 
same further service. All 
without deceit or fraud. In 
witness of the truth are 
hereof made two contracts of 
one tenor, and by both parties 
undersigned, as well as by 
^lodocus Hondius as interpreter 
and witness. Dated as above. 
Was signed, Dirck van Os, 
J : Poppe, Henry Hudson. 
Lower stood. By me, Jodocus 
Hondius, as witness.* 



*We are indebted to Prof. A. J. F. van Laer. the accomplished Dutch scholar and Librarian 
of Manuscripts in the New York State Library at Albany, for his courtesy in verifying our trans- 
lation. 



